The Humbling River
by bluebutterflywitch
Summary: A crash landed shuttle, a femme presume offline found online, and a very confusing situation between both fractions. does anyone else smell trouble? Silverflare does but that won't stop her from finding out the true reason why the Decepticons want her offline. she's just a caretaker, what trouble can she cause besides being overprotected of her little ones?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi. this idea kept on bothering me and wouldn't stop until i wrote it down. how come plot bunnies are so evil? anyway, i hope you like it!**

**Summary: A crash landed shuttle, a femme presume offline found online, and a very confusing situation between both fractions. does anyone else smell trouble? Silverflare does but that won't stop her from finding out the true reason why the Decepticons want her offline. she's just a caretaker, what trouble can she cause besides being overprotected of her little ones?**

**Disclamier: i don't own anything except Silverflare. enjoy!**

_Blah: Memories_

**:Blah: com links**

**'Blah' video transmissions**

* * *

**The humbling river**

_'Aw! He is so cute!' the small silver youngling squealed as she held out one of her digits to the small blue sparkling._

_The sparkling just twitched his servos before grasping her digit. He seemed to be studying it before switching his glance up to her, as if trying to decide wither she was trustfully or not. He was not like any other sparkling and that itself spook the others in the care center but not the youngling. No, she thought it was cute. Everyone was different and he was no different._

_'Silverflare, you need to go and pack,' their assigned caretaker said, her arms crossed as she watched the two interact with great interest. The sparkling had arrived just an orn ago and so far, he hasn't made any effort to interact with his assigned caretakers. 'The enforcers will be here shortly to take you to the orphanage.'_

_Silverflare frowned at the reminder. She had just reached her second frame and now had to be transfer to the orphanage in order to make more room for the other sparklings that will come later in the steller cycles. She knew that she should go and pack but she didn't want to. She had heard bad things about the orphanage and didn't want to experience them herself if they were true._

_Out of habit, her visor slide into place and her sensor panel like wings lowered against her back, making them unnoticeable. The sparkling seemed to have noticed the sudden change in behavior for he raised his other servo and gently pat the digit he held. Silverflare smiled slightly at the action. This sparkling seemed smarter than the others of his age._

_'Do I have to?' she asked as she used her other servo to gently stroke the sparkling's faceplates. 'I like it here.'_

_The caretaker just inhaled some empty air before going over to the youngling. Placing a servo on her shoulder, she glanced at the sparkling. 'I know you do Flare but it's the rules.'_

_The sparkling just stared at the two femmes before lifting his servos towards Silverflare. Getting the silent message, the silver youngling gently picked him up and cradled him against her chest._

_'Is there any way for me to stay here? I can help care for the little ones,' she asked hopefully, turning to stare at the caretaker, who looked shock._

_Silverflare frowned at the strange reaction and called out her designation._

_'Wavestream? Are you alright?' she asked in concern._

_Wavestream shook her head and took in the scene. This was the first time the sparkling ever allowed any bot to hold him._

_'Maybe there is a way for you to stay Flare,' she said slowly, her processor reeling with ideas._

_Silverflare beamed in joy. 'Really?'_

_Wavestream nodded and gently rubbed the youngling's helm before heading towards the door. 'Stay here and watched the sparkling for a bit. I'm going to talk to the head caretaker. Maybe we can pull some strings for you to stay here and care for the little ones.'_

_Silverflare nodded and watched as the elder femme left the room before glancing at the sparkling in joy, her wings rising up a bit to match her mood. 'I might be able to stay here! I wonder if they let me take care of you, you're just so cute!' she cooed as she went over to where they had the bottles full of energon. Grabbing one, she tested the temperature on her wrist before offering it to the sparkling. 'Here, drink up.'_

_The sparkling stared at the bottle before taking it within his servos and took a sip. Silverflare giggled at the action, she was still holding it at a certain angle but allowed the sparkling to feed. The sparkling heard the giggle and sent her a look but she ignored it._

_'You know, I don't think you have a designation yet do you?' Silverflare just realized. 'We were never given one and I have to call you by something other than sparkling. So let's see.'_

_Staring at the sparkling, she thought about which designation would suit him best. He was soundless but at the same time has this wave like feeling to him. He was almost finished with his bottle when she came up with one._

_'Soundwave,' she said, glancing down at the sparkling, who glanced up at the name. 'Do you like that one? Soundwave?'_

_The sparkling let out a silent coo in what sounded like an agreement. Silverflare smiled and placed the bottle back on the shelf. She gently hugged him and used a digit to stroke his faceplates once more._

_'Soundwave, that will be your designation,' she said._

_'And a good one,' a voice spoke out from the doorway._

_Siverflare glanced up, startled at the sudden announcement. She froze when she spotted Wavestream with the head caretaker, a deep red femme with white markings._

_'Redrose!' she gasped. 'I didn't know you were there!'_

_Redrose chuckled at the youngling's reaction. Walking into the room, she studied the two before smiling._

_'You want to stay here and care for the little ones Silverflare?' the elder femme asked._

_Silverflare nodded. Her grip on Soundwave tightened a bit yet not enough to cause any harm._

_'Very well, Wavestream will be your teacher as you care for little Soundwave here,' Redrose said, rubbing her helm a bit before leaving. 'I'll talk to the enforcers about the sudden change of plans.'_

_Silverflare was shock. She can actually stay! 'Thank you Redrose!' she cried in joy before glancing at the sparkling. 'You hear that Soundwave? I'm going to be your caretaker!'_

_Wavestream just chuckled._

* * *

_'Soundwave,' Silverflare called out to the small youngling. 'It's time for your checkup. We can't avoid it any longer.'_

_Soundwave glanced up from his small pile of blocks, a small unnoticeable frown on his faceplates. He had just reached the beginning of his second frame and had just learned how to walk. He was actually pleased to see how delighted his caretaker was when he took his first steps and towards her none of the less. He can speak but rarely does, unless he was alone with Silverflare._

_'Query: have to?' he asked._

_Silverflare gently smiled. His way of speaking had shocked her at first but she quickly pushed it to the back of her professor in order to congratulate him._

_'Yes you do. We need to make sure you are healthy,' she said as she came closer and kneel down to be his height. 'Unless you want to be ill and stuck in berth like Wavestream was when she didn't go to the medic like she should. You do remember how she was complaining about not being able to do anything?'_

_Soundwave nodded and lifted his servos up to her in hopes to be carried even though he knew that Silverflare would never object on carrying him. He wasn't disappointed for Silverflare beamed and gently picked him up._

_'If it makes you feel better, I'm doing my check up as well,' she said as she left the room and went towards the designated room for the checkups. 'I need to make sure I'm sitting well in my final frame which is weird because you only have three frames but I guess it's the stages that worries most medics.'_

_Soundwave didn't pay much attention to her words but just took comfort in hearing her voice. As long as he could hear and feel her thoughts, it was okay._

_'Well, here we are,' Silverflare said as they came into the room and was met with a very cheerful light blue mech._

_'Are you two here for your checkups?' he asked happily, which creep out Soundwave a bit. How can a mech be so happy about doing checkups that could end up in disaster at the end of the day?_

_Guess Silverflare had the same thoughts for she chuckled and nodded. 'Someone seems happy about doing checkups.'_

_The mech chuckled and motioned to the empty berths that were placed for this occasion. 'I love working with sparklings and younglings but I keep finding myself scaring them. Wonder why?'_

_'Really Sire? You wonder why you scare them?' a young mech commented as he came into the room with some equipment._

_He placed them down on an empty tray table and glance at Silverflare and Soundwave before making a face. Right then and there, Soundwave decided that he didn't like him._

_'Ah Ratchet! You're just in time!' the mech said, ignoring his creation's attitude and turned to Silverflare. 'Sorry, I never introduce myself did I? I'm Frostjump and this is my creation, Ratchet.'_

_Silverflare smiled nervously. 'Silverflare and this little mech is Soundwave.'_

_'Silverflare?' Ratchet said in disbelief and shook his head. 'What kind of designation is that?'_

_Silverflare frowned and gave the mech a pointed look. 'Mine and while on the topic of designations, what about Ratchet? Isn't that the name of a tool?'_

_Ratchet glared at her and was about to argue when Frostjump cut him off._

_'Ratchet! Don't be so rude!' he said, clearly disappointed in the way he was behaving. Shaking his head, he sent an apologetic glance towards the silver femme. 'Please forgive him, he isn't used to communicating with others that much.'_

_Soundwave frowned and tighten his grip on his caretaker. He really didn't like Ratchet. He insulted Silverflare and was still sending them glares._

_Silverflare, feeling her charge's grip tighten, cooed at him and rubbed his helm lightly. 'There, there. Don't worry.'_

_Frostjump smiled at the scene and when over to the datapads that held files on every bot in the building. 'So let's see. Silverflare and Soundwave correct?'_

_Silverflare nodded. 'Yup.'_

_Frostjump gave out a shout of victory when he found their files and motioned to the berths. 'Alright, who's going first?'_

_'Soundwave please. I want to make sure he is settling well with his frame,' Silverflare said as she took a seat near the berth, placing the youngling on berth. 'And also to see if you can confirm my theory about something that has been bothering me for some time.'_

_'Alright so a basic scan will do,' Frostjump said as he started to connect some cables to the youngling. 'It will give us the basic information and if he has any abilities that should be know.'_

_Silverflare nodded and would coo at Soundwave when he twitched in discomfort. 'Okay.'_

_'Now, can you tell me about how he is fairing so far?' Frostjump asked as he checked the monitors for even sign of virus._

_'Soundwave is still in the process of learning how to walk and speak. He also has this odd speech pattern but I'm not complaining for it seems cute. He is very antisocial and as far as I know, I'm the only one who he is comfortable with. I've been trying to change that but so far, nothing,' she answered._

_'Well, considering that he is still entering his second frame, he is doing well on speaking and walking but what about his odd speech pattern?' Frostjump asked as he turned to face her. 'How does he speak?'_

_'Well, it's usually either when a designation then a question or a statement or he says query then the question,' she said as she tried to remember how he spoke. 'Something like this. Frostjump: scan complete.'_

_'That is weird but like you said, kind of cute,' Frostjump agreed before realizing what she said. Turning around to the monitor, he saw that indeed the scan was complete. 'Well what do you know? Little Soundwave is a telepathic.'_

_Silverflare gave out a low whistle at that. 'Well that explains a lot and why he seems to know what I'm about to say. He's been reading my processor the whole time.'_

_Ratchet, who had been silent during the scan, made a face at that. 'Who would want to read your processor? It must be boring.'_

_Silverflare just stared at him. 'If I were you, I would be quiet before I do something I'm going to regret later on.'_

_Soundwave twitch at what he read and raised his servos at his caretaker. Silverflare saw the motion from the corner of her visor and sent a questioning look at Frostjump. Getting the silent message, the medic quickly unhooked the cables from the youngling and motioned her to get on._

_'Your turn. You want Soundwave to be with you or for him to be playing with the blocks?' he asked, motioning to the toys that some of the caretakers brought to entertain the younglings and sparklings as they did their own checkup._

_Siilverflare shook her head and gently moved Soundwave a bit before getting on. 'No, he can stay with me. I doubt that he would leave me alone right now.'_

_True to her word, once she was lying on the berth, the youngling quickly latched himself to her arm. Frostjump nodded and plugged in the cables and was about to start the basic scan when Silverflare stopped him._

_'Can you do a full depth scan?' she asked. 'I think I might have a slight glitch but I want to make sure that if I do, I'm not a danger to the little ones.'_

_Frostjump looked surprise but nodded. 'Of course but I need to put you into stasis lock for this. It'll be much easier and faster if you weren't online.'_

_Silverflare nodded and turned her helm towards Soundwave. 'Soundwave, I'm going to take a short nap alright? Behave and I'll give you a treat okay?'_

_Soundwave nodded and watched as the medic gently put her on stasis lock. He watched as he read through whatever was on the datapad before he stopped and looked up in shock and surprise._

_'Sire? Is everything alright?' Ratchet asked, noticing the sudden reaction._

_Frostjump nodded. 'Yes, it just I was surprise by how young Silverflare was. She is still in her first stages of her third frame and from the looks of it, she arrived here in the beginnings of her second frame.'_

_'What? She's younger than me!' Ratchet exclaim. He had was just nearing the end of his second stage of his third frame and was about to get his final upgrade later in the orn or so._

_'Well that explains why she seemed a bit childish but I just thought it was because of the job she held,' Frostjump said._

_The room was filled with silence and it wasn't about a few clicks later when the scan was complete. Wanting for Silverflare to be online for the results, Frostjump slowly brought her out of stasis._

_Soundwave watched as her visor slowly brighten before it glowed it's usually pale violet color. The medic unhooked the cables and helped her sit up. Soundwave quickly took his place by her side._

_'Well, good news is that you are completely healthy,' Frostjump said happily._

_'And the bad?' she asked, almost fearing for the worst._

_'It seems that you do have a small glitch but it is not a danger to the little ones,' he said, quickly dashing the fears away._

_'That's good, I hate to have to be away from them,' Silverflare said in relief. 'What is the glitch?'_

_'It's a strange one but I can only explain it as an affection glitch,' he explained._

_'Affection glitch?' Ratchet asked confused. 'You don't mean that she's going to go crazy for affection will she?'_

_'No, it should have but I guess it redirected itself to give affection to others, especially to those who are less fortunate.'_

_'Well, that explains a lot,' Silverflare commented, thinking back to when she gave out more affection to the little ones then she should. 'I always felt the need to care for another. When I don't, I get twitchy, nervous, and a bit unstable.'_

_'It's your glitch that causes that reaction,' Frostjump confirm as he recorded it onto her file. 'Where you denied of affection from your creators?'_

_Silverflare shrugged at the question. 'Let's see, is being thrown out onto the streets as a sparkling an example of denied of affection?'_

_'That's one way,' Frostjump said in disbelief. 'Your glitch must have been form during the time of you being on the streets to when you came here.'_

_'I see, nothing else?' Silverflare asked. 'It's almost Soundwave's nap time and he can get cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep.'_

_'I see nothing else, no viruses or anything,' Frostjump said, giving them the all clear. 'I just want you to come to your checkups so we can monitor that glitch of yours.'_

_Silverflare nodded as she hopped off the berth. Taking hold of Soundwave, she smiled at the two medics. 'Of course. Thank you and get an attitude check will you Ratchet? I wouldn't want you as my medic unless you were either the last medic on the planet or the best one that there is.'_

_Ratchet scowled but nodded. He sent a glare at his sire when he started to laugh._

_'Goodbye and take care!' Frostjump said as he waved them off._

_Silverflare chuckled and made her way back to Soundwave's room. 'So an affection glitch? Well, I guess that means more affection for you Soundwave.'_

_Soundwave nuzzled his helm against her shoulder. He wouldn't mind that. Not at all if it means that Silverflare will be there._

* * *

_Silverflare sat in Soundwave's old room. Before she even knew it, Soundwave was already nearing the end of his youngling stages and need to be moved to the orphanage. She didn't want to see him off but she knew it was for the best. She even gave him her private com link in case he ever felt the need to speak with her before he left._

_'I knew you would be here,' a voice called out from the doorway._

_Glancing up, she smiled slightly at her old teacher. 'Wavestream,' she greeted._

_Wavestream came into the room and stood in front of the silver femme. 'Don't worry, he'll be fine. I've been checking in with the head of the orphanage and he claims that Soundwave is behaving well.'_

_'That's good, it's only been about three orns since he was transfered so I doubt he would cause any trouble,' she said, her servos twitching a bit._

_Wavestream noticed it and gently took her servos into her own. 'Flare, you know that you can take care of another little one. All you have to do is ask and we'll gladly give you one.'_

_Silverflare smiled at the offer. After learning about her glitch, she thought it'll be much safer if she told the others. Redrose was the first to reassure her that everything will be alright and the other caretakers followed, some even joked about keeping their own charges to themselves unless they wanted Silverflare to steal their attention._

_Shaking her head, she glanced at her old mentor. 'No, I can wait until we have more little ones. I don't want to take away one of your charges just because of my glitch.'_

_Wavestream frowned. 'You sure?'_

_Silverflare nodded. 'Of course.'_

_'Alright,' the elder femme said before a thought came to mind. 'Why don't you go and visit Soundwave? You know that we are welcome to the orphanage and it'll take your processor off of things.'_

_Wings twitching, Silverflare thought about it. It has been a while since she saw her little one and she wasn't needed as of yet. A short visit won't do any harm will it?_

_'Perhaps I should. I can see how Soundwave has adapted to his new surroundings,' she said in a thoughtful glance._

_Wavestream smiled. 'See? Go ahead, I'll tell Redrose where you have went. Tell the mech that we say hi.'_

_Silverflare nodded. Standing up, she quickly hugged the other femme. 'Thanks.'_

_The aqua femme smiled warmly and returned the hug. 'You're welcome now get. You don't have all the time in the world.'_

_Giggling, she nodded and practically ran out of the room and down the halls. Wavestream just shook her head at the action. 'Even when she's an adult, she still acts like a youngling. No wonder the other little ones like her so much.'_

_…_

_It wasn't long for Silverflare returned from her visit. Soundwave was surprise to see his old caretaker but that didn't change the fact that he was glad that she had come to visit. She was happy to see that he adjusted very well to his new surroundings and that gave her hope that he'll survive the outside world. She frowned slightly at that. When she learned that it was almost time for Soundwave to transfer buildings, she had begged him to keep his telepathy a secret. It wouldn't do well if others knew about it. Even Frostjump agreed with her._

_Soundwave agreed but in return, he had asked to be equipped with a visor of his own. They were surprise by the request but they didn't deny it. He chose a red visor and wouldn't say why he chose that color but Silverflare wasn't complaining._

_She smiled when she remember how awkward he was when she hugged him. Turns out that during his time at the orphanage, he had adapted a static expression to avoid the other older younglings to know what he was feeling and to avoid trouble. He had to send her a private message to tell her that he was happy to see her and that he was soaking up the attention he was receiving._

_Silverflare held the camcorder she was given against her, the head of the orphanage had taken pictures and give her the camcorder as a gift. She wondered if she can get copies of the pictures the other caretakers had taken when Soundwave was still a sparkling. She knew for sure that they did when she thought she wasn't looking._

_Her happy mood soon disappeared when she first entered the care center. She couldn't hear anything. No matter what cycle it was, there is noise all the time and yet, it was silent. Something is wrong and she was proven correct when she heard a loud crash and shouting from the northeast wing. Ignoring her better judgment, she quickly subspace the camcorder and went running towards the commotion. On the way, she met up with Blackwind, one of the few mech caretakers that work here._

_'Blackwind! What's going on?' she asked, concern coating her worried tone._

_Blackwind stared at her before grabbing her wrist and dragged her towards a large open room. 'We just received a youngling who just lost his creators in crossfire during a street fight. He doesn't want to believe in the facts and is screaming for his creators.'_

_"Aw! The poor thing! Where exactly were they?' Silverflare asked as she took in the scene._

_The neat and organize room was now a disaster area. Tables and chairs were overturned and the items were thrown all over the place. Caretakers were trying to calm a young black and white youngling, his blue visor flashing in anger._

_'Near the Ring,' Blackwind said._

_Silverflare's own visor flashed in pity. She knew that bar real well and fights always happen. She can't remember how many deaths are caused near that place._

_'Where's Sire and Carrier?' the youngling screamed, tears running down his faceplates._

_Silverflare watched as the others tried to come near only for the youngling to retaliate, making it almost impossible for them to come near him. Looking closely, she noticed he was scared and realized why. Just witnessing his creators' deaths, finding himself in a new unfamiliar area, then surrounding by more unfamiliar bots. He was frightened and they were not helping._

_'Little one, they're go-'_

_'No! Leave me alone!' the youngling screamed._

_Silverflare had enough. Stepping forward, she ignored the warnings of the others and kneeled down in front of the youngling. It only took a nanoklik or two until he noticed her. Shifting away, he stared at her warily._

_'Who are you?' he asked._

_Silverflare smiled softly. 'I'm a caretaker here. What's your designation?' she asked._

_'Jazz,' he answered, wiping his face._

_Noticing the difficulties he was having, she reached into her subspace and took out a soft clean rag. Handing it to the youngling, she started to speak._

_'Here, this should help. Now Jazz, tell me what's wrong,' she asked._

_Jazz had to glance at her before taking the rag and cleaned his face before answering. 'My creators are gone and ah don't know where they went.'_

_Silverflare smiled sadly. Taking the rag, she gently wiped a spot that he had missed. 'You're creators had to go with Primus, you know Primus do you? They're safe now.'_

_'But why did they go? Don't they love me?' Jazz asked dishearten at the idea._

_Silverflare quickly shook her head at that. 'No little one, never think that. They loved you too much to leave you alone but they had no choice. If they could, they would still be here with you.'_

_'Why did Primus take them then?' Jazz asked, his servos forming into fists._

_'Because he needed them there with him but don't worry, I'll tell you a secret,' she said, placing a digit in front of her lips._

_'What?' the youngling asked curiously._

_'No matter what, you're creators will always be with you right here,' she said, tapping the armor over his spark. 'They'll be watching so you better behave or you'll be in trouble with them when you meet up with them once again.'_

_Jazz's visor brightened and glanced down to where his spark was located at. 'Really?' he asked excitedly._

_Silverflare nodded. 'Really. Now are you going to be a good mech for us?'_

_Jazz nodded before a frown appeared on his faceplates. 'Are you guys gonna take care of me?'_

_The silver femme nodded. 'Yes, only if you let us.'_

_'You won't try to replace my carrier?' Jazz asked, not liking the idea that much._

_Silverflare shook her head at that. 'No, dear Primus no. We're not trying to replace your carrier or sire. No, we just want to take care of you until you're old enough to care for yourself.'_

_'Like botsitting?' he asked, tilting his head a bit to the side._

_'Yes like botsitting until you don't need one anymore,' Silverflare confirmed._

_'Oh!_ _Who's gonna take care of me?' he asked, glancing around at the gather mechs and femmes._

_'Well that's your choice. If you were a sparkling, we would have given you to the next available caretaker but I feel it's better if you choose who you want your caretaker to be,' she said, sending a glance at Redrose who nodded._

_'So ah choose who ah want as a caretaker?' Jazz asked._

_Silverflare nodded and soon found herself with and armful of a youngling. Jazz wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and buried his face into her side._

_'Can ah have you as my caretaker? Please?' he asked, his words muffled._

_Silverflare smiled and gently patted his back. 'If that's your choice then it's alright with me.'_

_Jazz smiled and cuddled deeper into her side. Silverflare chuckled at the sight and turned to stare at Redrose._

_'So where is he staying?' she asked, wanting to know where to take him. From the few cycle's events, the youngling would be nearing his nap time by now, not to motion that he should be getting his own share of energon._

_'Well, all of the rooms are occupied by other younglings so we don't have much room left for him to stay in,' Redrose said, trying to find a solution._

_Silverflare shook her head at that. 'Actually, we do have one room left. I doubt he wouldn't mind if we use it for another youngling, especially if that youngling is my charge.'_

_Redrose stared at the young femme in shock and happiness. She didn't want to use that room until Silverflare was ready but it seems that she is by receiving a new little one. Giving her approval, Silverflare gently gather Jazz up in her arms and made way to his room. Once she was gone, the other caretakers went back to their charges and left the room, half of them complaining about the mess they have to clean up._

_Wavestream smiled as she stepped up to Redrose. 'She's already moving on.'_

_'She has a new little one to take care. I know she will never forget Soundwave as Soundwave will never forget Silverflare. Besides, I have a feeling that Jazz will give her a challenge when he recovers,' Redrose said._

_'Well, she always liked a challenge,' Wavestream commented before starting the cleanup. 'I wonder how this will play out.'_

_Redrose just chuckled and went off to deal with the paperwork that was sitting in her office._

* * *

_'Jazz! Where are you?' Silverflare shouted in annoyance as she searched for the little trouble marker._

_It was checkup day and Jazz hated it. She was careful to avoid saying it whenever it arrives but somehow, some way, he found out and now was hiding somewhere._

_'Jazz, come on out,' she said sweetly. 'It's only to take a couple of kliks, that's all.'_

_There was no answer. Silverflare bit the inside of her cheek, an action she saw a traveler had done once and had gotten a habit of doing when she first started to care for Jazz._

_'Jazz, if you don't come out, I'm going to take away your music files and you won't get a treat,' she said, hoping to get a respond and she did. It was silent but she heard a small whine coming from above her. Wait, above? Optics widening from behind her visor, she turned around to see the vent unscrewed. 'Oh you got to be playing.'_

_She cursed the day when he found those vents. She was oh so careful when she found out he was a sneaky little thing. 'Jazz!'_

_A giggle was heard and Silverflare scowled at the simple action. The little brat was making fun of her._

_**: Silverflare to Blackwind :**_

_**: Blackwind here :**_

_**: I need your help. Jazz got into the vents again :**_

_**: Again? Man, he really doesn't like his checkups does he? :**_

_**: What do you think? Please? :**_

_**: Fine, on my way :**_

_**: Thank you :**_

_Silverflare smiled in containment that she was getting help on dragging the little brat out from his hiding place._

_'Okay, which vent is he hiding in this time?' Blackwind asked, coming into the room._

_'The one that is open,' she said, pointing towards the open vent. 'Can you get him?'_

_'Sure, I'm just going to fish him out,' Blackwind said, hoping onto the table that was in front of it._

_Silverflare frowned at the strange concept. 'What's a fish?'_

_Blackwind shrugged. 'Some organic creature that one of my buds talks about that he had seen on his travels.'_

_'Oh, ok,' Silverflare said._

_Blackwind frowned when he felt nothing and flashed a light into the tunnel only to spot a pair of pedes crawl around the corner._

_'Great, we got a runaway youngling,' he said._

_Silverflare frowned in concern. 'He crawled away? But how will we find him?'_

_'Well, I can follow him,' he responded, climbing into the vent._

_'Are you sure? Won't you get stuck?' Silverflare asked. Blackwind may be the slimmest out of the mechs here but he still is a bit bulky._

_'Don't worry,' he grunted as he started to crawl after the youngling. 'I'll be okay.'_

_Silverflare frowned. She would have gone in but she found out that she was a bit claustrophobic in very tight spaces. There must be something she could do. Wait, there is that._

_Nodding to herself, she flared out her wings and allowed her sensor net to expand to the surrounding area. She could sense the others moving around in their areas with the little ones but she focused her attention to the vents above her. She could tell where Blackwind was but not Jazz. He must have moved farther down the vents, sneaky brat. Exiting the room, she stayed close to the vents, trying to sense the small youngling. Her visor was showing diagrams of areas, telling her when there was a change of movement. Everything was making her confuse and it was enough to give her a processor ache. Now she remembers why she avoids using it too often._

_There. Her sensors spotted a small quick movement passing by her and from the looks of it, it was heading towards the vent down the hall. Grinning, she made quick work to reaching it first. Won't Jazz be surprise?_

_**: Silverflare to Blackwind :**_

_**: Blackwind here :**_

_**: How's the search going? :**_

_**: Spotted the little brat, it looks like he's heading towards a vent :**_

_**: Well if I'm right, I'm in front of that vent :**_

_**: Hope so, wait, he's pausing. Why that little! :**_

_**: What's wrong? :**_

_**: He's laughing at me! Mostly because I banged my head against the roof of the vent :**_

_Silverflare winced at that. She could hear Jazz's cheerful laugh and Blackwind's complaints._

_'Silverflare?'_

_Jumping a bit in surprise, she turned around to see a white and red mech. He was staring at her in confusion and glancing up the vents when another string of yells and giggles erupted._

_'What's going on?' he asked, his tone slightly annoyed and tired._

_Silverflare chuckled slightly at him. 'Oh nothing, just doing some youngling hunting that's all. Um, can you do me a favor?'_

_The mech switched his glance back on her. 'What type of favor?' he asked._

_'Nothing much, just give me a lift so I can get to the vent and capture the little monster before he runs off,' she said._

_The mech seemed to weigh his options before nodding and went over under the vent. Kneeling down, he cupped his servos together and motioned Silverflare to get on. Beaming, she quickly went over and placed one of her pedes on his servos and motioned him to stand up. The mech slowly did until she was facing the vent._

_Unscrewing the vent, she glanced inside and saw Jazz laughing at something, most likely Blackwing. Frowning, she reached in and grabbed onto Jazz and pulled him out._

_Jazz gave out a small squeak and looked towards whoever had him until he saw that it was Silverflare. Hoping to continue playing, he snuck out of her grip and crawled over to the edge of the vent before tackling her._

_Silverflare let out a small shout as she felt her less her balance at the sudden weight difference. She was well aware of her falling and on instinct, curled her frame around Jazz. Preparing for a rough landing, she was surprise to feel someone catching her and her landing on something. A big oof was heard underneath them._

_'Again!' Jazz shouted out happily, clapping his servos together._

_'I rather you not,' a gruff voice answered him._

_It was then Silverflare remembered the other mech that was with her and quickly connected the dots. Once she did, she quickly jumped off. True to her theory, the mech from before was lying on the ground, rubbing where she had landing._

_'Oh my, I'm so sorry!' she said. Keeping a tight grip on Jazz, she swiftly ran over and helped the mech up. 'I didn't expect for the little one to jump out and onto me.'_

_The mech waved it off and stared at Jazz who was now hiding in her shoulder. 'He has the makings of a trouble maker. That's for sure.'_

_Silverflare rolled her optics at that, grateful that her visor hid it. 'Don't you know it. He is a nightmare to begin with but he's one of my little ones.'_

_'Ah'm you're only little one!' Jazz said, forgetting his previous fear of the mech in front of them._

_'Yes you are but don't forget, I'm still a caretaker and I might be assigned to care for other little ones anytime,' Silverflare said before remembering something. 'Wait, where's Blackwind?'_

_'Who?' the mech asked, confused at the sudden change of topic._

_Jazz giggled at the reminder and pointed up to the vents. 'There!'_

_Glancing up, they all heard the tall tale signs of a struggle._

_'Um, Blackwind? You okay there?' Silverflare called out, worried when she heard a loud bang._

_'Yeah, just got stuck. Is the brat out?' Blackwind asked, his voice echoing a bit._

_'Ah'm here!' Jazz said cheekily._

_'Good,' the black mech answered._

_'Do you need any help? I can com Highlink to help you,' Silverflare asked._

_'No! She will blackmail me again!' Blackwind shouted in fear at the thought of the pale green femme coming to get him out. 'She's evil! Evil I tell you!'_

_Silverflare just stared at the vent in a deadpanned expression. 'Then why did you bonded with her?'_

_There was a moment of silence. 'Cause I love her.'_

_'That's what I thought.'_

_The mech turned to stare at her with a slightly amused expression. 'I just com her and she's on her way.'_

_'Good,' Silverflare responded, fixing her hold on Jazz before shouting once more to the trap mech in the vents. 'Highlink should be arriving soon so hold on. I'm going to take this little menace to his checkup now.'_

_'Alright,' Blackwind said weakly._

_Chuckling, Silverflare started to walk towards the designated room when she noticed that the mech was following them as well. Glancing at him, she stared before recognizing who it was._

_'Ratchet?' she asked in surprise._

_Jazz popped up his head at the sound of his caretaker's voice and scowled at the mech. He never did like having her attention on some bot other than him. He liked being in the center of attention._

_Ratchet chuckled and nodded. 'Was wondering when you'll remember.'_

_Silverflare frowned. 'Sorry, been busy with this little guy and hold still Jazz.'_

_Jazz shook his helm and glared at Ratchet. 'No! Don't like him!'_

_'Wow, new record,' Ratchet said, not even fazed. 'Didn't even introduce myself and he already hates me. Wonder how he'll react when he realizes that I'm the one who's doing his checkup.'_

_'Really? Finally became a medic like your sire? Talking about him, how's Frostjump? Still jumping?' Silverflare asked as they enter the room, allowing said mech to hear the last part._

_'Yup, still jumping like ever,' Frostjump said, grinning. 'How you doing Flare?'_

_Silverflare shrugged. 'Good, a bit sad that my first left but I got this one who hates your creation.'_

_Frostjump chuckled and patted his son on the back. 'Nice! It took me a while to get my first hater!'_

_Ratchet grunted. 'You make sound like it's a good thing.'_

_Silverflare smirk, hoping to add more fuel to the flames then there was already. 'No, actually I think Soundwave hated him when he first spoke to me.'_

_Frostjump laughed out loud at that. 'Damn, are all of your little ones going to hate my Ratchet?'_

_'Don't know, and no, I'm not telling them to hate them,' Silverflare said before placing the pouting Jazz onto the berth. 'Now behave Jazz while I do my checkup with Frostjump alright?'_

_Jazz pouted even more before a thought came to his processor. 'If ah behave, you sing to me again?'_

_Silverflare looked surprise at the request but smiled and nodded. 'Yes I'll sing to you but only if you behave or else I'm keeping my threat and take away your music files.'_

_Jazz nodded and watch as his caretaker went over to the berth next to his and lay down. The blue medic did something to her for her visor suddenly darken._

_'Okay Jazz was it? I need you to lie down so I can connect these cables to you and start the basic scan,' Ratchet said._

_Jazz frowned but did what he ordered, can't have Silverflare to be disappointed in him. Yet that didn't stop him from sticking out his glossa at him._

_Frostjmp laughed at the outraged look his creation took. 'She sure knows how to pick them!'_

_'Shut up old bucket of bolts,' Ratchet said, connecting the rest of the cables to the youngling. 'If this how they act so far, I can't wait to see the others.'_

_'Like they say, careful what you wish for Ratchet, you might not like it.'_

_'Shut it.'_

_'… Ah hate you.'_

* * *

_Silverflare stared at the two sparklings in worried. They were Praxian models and they were small. The two brothers had arrived earlier and they didn't trust anyone even though they were a few steller cycles old. Redrose had sent them to her in hopes to gain their trust._

_'Flare! Who are they?' Jazz asked curiously, jumping up to get a better look at them. The youngest one was black and white like him and the eldest was red and blue, their doorwings twitching at the sight of them._

_'Prowl and Smokescreen,' Silverflare said worriedly. Going over to the cabinet filled with energon bottles, she quickly grabbed two and only took a nanoklik to check its temperature before going over back to the crib. 'They won't let anyone touch them and they need energon soon.'_

_Jazz visor dimmed in confusion, a small frown on his faceplates. 'Don't they need energon all the time? They're younger than me!'_

_Silverflare nodded. 'They're still in their first frame,' she said before placing the bottles to the side and tried to take one out to feed him._

_The sparklings cried out and cuddled closer to each other, not allowing her to touch them. Silverflare quickly drew her servos back and frowned._

_'Why don't they trust you? Everyone trusts you Flare!' Jazz asked surprise to see another youngling/sparkling not want his caretaker's attention._

_'Well, not these two,' she said before crossing her arms. She needed a way for them to trust her long enough to feed them._

_Jazz frowned before his visor brightened. Jumping up and down, he tugged on her plating, trying to get her attention. Once he was sure he had her attention, he ran over to his music files and searched for a song. Finding it, he ran up to her and held up the file._

_'Sing to them! It always works for me!' Jazz said._

_Silverflare tilted her head before kneeling down to glance at the song the youngling had chosen and nodded thoughtfully._

_'That could work,' she said before standing up. 'Alright, we'll give it a try.'_

_Jazz beamed and played the song. Soon the room was filled with soft music, causing the brothers to glance around. Words were soon heard playing, calming the stressful feelings she was sensing. Her wings flared up a bit as she swayed a bit to the beat, her visor never glancing away from the sparklings. She had sang this song to Soundwave and Jazz when they were upset and it work like a charm, she only hoped that it would work for the brothers as well._

_Reaching to the point where she starts singing, she smiled at the two._

'Pay no mind to the battle you've won,

It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle,

Open your heart and hands my son,

Or you'll never make it over the river,' _she sang softly, her voice matching to the main singer._

_The two Praxians stared at her before clicking and chirping. She smiled as she continued, her voice rising at the next set of words._

'It'll take a lot more than words and guns,

A whole lot more than riches and muscle,

The hands of the many must join as one,' _at this line, she gently lowered her servo at them, allowing them the choice to trust her or not._

_The little ones seem to know this as well for they stared at it._

'And together we'll cross the river,'

_The sparklings slowly raised one of their servos and placed them on hers. Silverflare smiled at the action._

'It'll take a lot of more than words and guns,

A whole lot more than riches and muscle,

The hands of the many must join as one, 

And together we'll cross the river,'

_Deciding to take her chance, she moved slowly to take one of the brothers. They were reluctant but Smokescreen allowed himself to be picked up. Cradling him close to her, she grabbed one of the energon bottles and held it out to him. Smokescreen greedily grabbed it and drank his fill. Gently patting his back, taking extra care of his doorwings, she placed him on the berth and took hold of Prowl who also greedily grab his own bottle and begin to drink his fill._

_'Damn, they're sure hungry,' Jazz said, having watched the two bots devoured their meal._

_Silverflare nodded, repeating the same actions as before and placing him next to his brother. The two siblings cuddled next to each other and slowly drifted off to stasis._

'And together we'll cross the river.'_ She finished softly, happy to see the now rested sparklings._

_Jazz watched the two before grabbing his own energon and quickly gulped it down before going over to his own berth._

_'Flare, Ah'm gonna take my stasis nap now,' he said._

_'Alright,' she said._

_Waiting a couple of nanokliks for him to settle down his visor to go offline, she allowed herself to exit the room. Closing the door slowly, she flared out her wings and activated her senor net to watch for any sudden movement from within. She needed engeron, a mid-energon to be exact._

_Turning around, she was surprise to be met with a cube of it held out to her. Glancing at the one who was holding it, she saw it was Redrose._

_Redrose smiled softly at the young femme before motioning for her to walk with her._

_Silverflare nodded her thanks as she took the cube and fell into step with the head caretaker._

_'How's the sparklings?' the red femme asked._

_Silverflare took a sip before answering. 'They allowed me to feed them but they still don't trust me completely. I believe that Smokescreen is the eldest and Prowl is the youngest.'_

_'I see, and Jazz? How's he taking it?' Redrose asked._

_'He tried to help as well, most likely because he saw how worried I was for the little ones,' she answered._

_'That's sweet,' Redrose said smiling. There was a klik of silence before Redrose asked the questioned she had on her processor for a while. 'Can you take care of them? Jazz is close to come of age to be transferred and the two sparklings have a better chance of trusting you then the others.'_

_Silverflare's wings lowered a bit at the reminder. 'I know and I'll try to raise them but it's their choice rather they'll trust me or not.'_

_'Wise words for someone so young,' Redrose said._

_'Well, I learn from the best,' she said, finishing her cube._

_Redrose chuckled. 'Well, I have to go and tend to the others. Also, you have a visitor,' she said before leaving the silver femme alone._

_Silverflare frown. Who would visit her?_

_'Silverflare.'_

_Gasping, she glanced down the hall to see Soundwave standing there, his visor staring at her, arms raised slightly_

_'Soundwave!'_

* * *

_'Little ones! I'm getting tired of this game!' Silverflare said tiredly._

_Once again it was checkup day and Jazz somehow got the brothers to play the annual game of hide and seek. Silverflare wouldn't have minded if she wasn't feeling a bit down. She suspected that she had caught a virus and needed to get it check but she couldn't leave the little ones alone._

_'Please Jazz,' she begged, knowing full well that the youngling was the one who plan this. 'Come out with the little ones.'_

_Giggles reached her from somewhere in the room. Silverflare just sat down against the wall and held her helm in her servos, groaning at the pain she felt. The giggles stop but she paid no mind to it._

_'Flare, you okay?' Jazz called out from his hiding spot, the siblings' cooing at her in concern._

_Silverflare didn't say anything, she could feel something battling against her firewalls. Something wasn't right._

_A gently pat on her leg brought her attention in front of her. There stood her charges, each one staring at her in concern._

_'Silverflare? Are you okay?' Jazz asked, reaching to touch her faceplates and quickly drew his servo back. 'You're overheating!'_

_Silverflare was starting to lose her vision, her visor projecting errors as her systems started to shut down on her. Just before entering emergency stasis, she heard two distinct calls._

_'Silverflare!'_

_'Carrier!'_

_…_

_The first thing she noticed was the brightness of the lights and the fact that her visor was off. Frowning, she reactivated it and heard the soft click of it being slide into place. Once she was sure it was on, she online her optics fully._

_'She's awake!' a voice called out, making her wince._

_'Silverflare!' Jazz's unmistakable voice called out._

_It was the only warning she received before she felt a sudden weight on her middle._

_'Jazz! Don't do that!' Wavestream called out in concern._

_Jazz ignored her as he buried himself into her side. 'You're alright!'_

_Silverflare twitched her servos a bit before drawing the youngling closer to her, chuckling. 'You're getting big Jazz.'_

_Jazz chuckled weakly but didn't say anything._

_'Silverflare, how are you feeling?' Frostjump asked, unhooking the cables from her frame. 'You gave us a fright, especially when the little ones began crying in fear.'_

_Silverflare chuckled weakly. 'So far, I'm feeling fine. What was it?'_

_'A nasty virus,' the medic said before two cries where heard._

_'Carrier!' they cried._

_Silverflare frowned in confusion before spotting Redrose holding her two sparklings. Prowl and Smokescreen were reaching towards her, their servos clutching and unclutching._

_'Carrier?' she asked._

_Redrose chuckled before placing the two near her. The siblings quickly curled up into her side._

_'They got it in their processors that you are their carrier,' Wavestream chuckled lightly._

_Silverflare just stared at her in shock._

_'Excuse me, what?'_

* * *

_'Do ah have to leave?' Jazz complained, his arms crossed in annoyance._

_Silverflare frowned. She could feel Prowl and Smokescreen playing around with the blocks. After the virus attack, she decided to use her senor net fully to keep tabs on her charges._

_'Yes Jazz, you're nearing your third stage and you need to go to the orphanage,' she said softly before smirking. 'Who knows, perhaps you will find some bot with the same taste of music like yours.'_

_Jazz visor brighten at the thought. He didn't want to leave his caretaker and the brothers but after hearing that Silverflare's first charge still visited, he figure he could too._

_'You think so?' he asked._

_Silverflare nodded and was soon met with an armful of a cuddly youngling._

_Jazz buried his faceplates against her shoulder. 'Ah'm gonna miss you.'_

_Silverflare smiled softly and hugged him back. 'So will I Jazz but don't worry, you can still see me later on. I'm not going anywhere.'_

_Jazz chuckled before drawing back and giving a hug to the brothers. 'Cya little mechs! Ah'll find you in the outside world!'_

_Not wanting to be like everyone else he had seen in the past vorns, he decided that he should go out in style._

_Silverflare shook her head at the back flip he did before disappearing out the doors._

_'The Jazz man is out!'_

* * *

_'Carrier, do we have to leave?' Smokescreen asked, feeling betrayed at the thought of Silverflare making them leave. Prowl was standing near the doorway, his face betraying no emotion but his wings told another story, they were at their lowest point against his back._

_Silverflare inhaled empty space. 'I don't want you two to go but it's the rules. Don't worry, you've seen Jazz coming back and visit. You can too.'_

_'But we don't want to leave!' Smokescreen complained, his wings twitching before lowering to their lowest point._

_Silverflare smiled softly at that. Raising her arms up, the two siblings quickly got the message and ran into her open arms. Cuddling them, she planted gentle kisses on their helms._

_'I'm sad now, my little ones are leaving me,' she said softly._

_'Carrier, don't be sad! We'll visit whenever we can,' Prowl said, tightening his grip._

_'You promise?'_

_'Yes, we promise,' Smokescreen said._

_Silverflare smiled. 'Good cause I'm keeping your word on it.'_

* * *

_'**It's getting worse, you can't be there anymore Carrier.'**_

_'**Get to a safe zone or somewhere else.'**_

_'**Or better yet, come here with us. Even Ratchet's here, we can protect you.'**_

_Silverflare shook her head at the three mechs, cutting them off. She was doing her rounds when she received the news that she had a transmission from her little ones. After Prowl and Smokescreen left, she never received any more charges and she didn't mind. As long as her little ones contacted her by either in bot or by message, she was okay. Yes her glitch did make her want another little one but she managed._

_'Guys, I appreciate your concern but you need to focus on your duties. As far as I know, the care center is safe. The safe zones will be the first to be attack and I can't leave the little ones here,' she said._

_'**But Carrier, there are rumors that the rebels will be attacking the care centers and youngling sectors,' **Prowl said with a frown._

_'Prowl, I can't leave. I'm needed here. We are receiving more little ones because of the attacks, they can't afford to be missing a set of extra servos right now,' Silverflare said. Placing her servos on her hips, she gave them a pointed look. 'I can take care of myself, you don't need to worry about little old me.'_

_'**Yeah but little old you raised us,'** Smokescreen commented._

_'Silverflare! Another sparkling has arrived! We need you to calm it down!' Wavestream shouted from her position._

_Silverflare looked over her shoulder to see a bright yellow sparkling crying. 'Oh dear, not another one,' she mumbled before turning back to the screen. 'I need to go, if it makes you feel better, contact me on my private com if you hear the rebels coming here.'_

_'**Alright, take care Flare,' **Jazz said before ending the conversation._

_Silverflare stared at the blank screen before going over to the still screaming sparkling. Taking him in her arms, she softly cooed to him. 'There, there,' she said, bouncing him a bit. 'It's alright.'_

_Those were her last words before an explosion was heard from deep within the center. Everyone seemed to have screamed before chaos erupted. The enforcers that were stationed there quickly run through the halls towards the explosion and one by one, they dropped like flies as a saying goes._

_'Decepticons! Deactivate every single bot here!'_

_The order sent fear through her entire frame. Drawing the sparkling closer to her, she ran. She could hear her friends, the bots she worked with scream in pain before they fell silent. Covering the small sparkling so he couldn't see, Silverflare glanced around and almost cried out in despair. Blackwind and Highlink were lying together near a doorway, covered in their own energon. The sparklings and younglings that they tried to protect were offline near there frames._

_'Silverflare! Run to the safe room!' Wavestream shouted to her before she too was offlined._

_'Wavestream!' she screamed, accidently drawing the attention of the Decepticons towards her._

_'There! Another one!' a big bulky mech said before taking a shot at her._

_Sivlerflare dodged it in time before running down the now ruin halls. Everywhere she looked or glanced, more frames lay scattered around, coating the floor with their energon._

_**: Hide, I'll distract them. Hide. :**_

_The message was short and the sender was unknown but if this bot would be able to distract them until she got to the safe room, she'll trust them. Sensing the sparkling in her arms moving, she softly cooed to him before reaching the area. Shifting her grip on him, she reached down and gripped an invisible latch and opened the secret door._

_'Scout the area! Look for survivors!'_

_The voice was close and movement was heard. Wasting no time, Silverflare jumped into the dark room and locked the latch. Her only hope was that some other caretaker managed to get to the other safe rooms._

_It was cycles later when she dared leave the safe room. Before she even opened the latch, she allowed her sensor net to expand and scan the area for unfamiliar forms. She found none. Taking a risk, she popped open the latch and stepped out into the open. The scene that met her almost caused her to stumble._

_Everywhere and everything was destroyed. There seemed to no caretaker alive. The little ones that they were meant to raise and protect killed. Making sure that the sparkling she held in her arms saw nothing, Silverflare slowly waved through the cold frames. She could practically name every single frame, all of her friends gone. She could feel energon tears rolling down her faceplates but she continued walking. It wasn't until she reach the middle of the building did she finally collapsed. Only a few feet away from her lay the frame of Redrose, her hand outstretch towards a small sparkling, as if trying to comfort it._

_'No,' she whispered before crawling over towards the two frames. 'Redrose.'_

_Wiping her tears away, she gently placed the sparkling down and moved over to the offline one that the head caretaker tried so hard to reach. Gently picking it up, she cradled the tiny frame against her and placed it next to the elder femme so it was lying next to her side. She repositioned the elder's arms so it seemed like she offline with it in her arms._

_'You deserved the peace of knowing you have this one in your arms, even in deactivation Redrose,' she whispered._

_The small sparkling whimpered, gathering her attention. Cooing, she gently took him in her arms. 'Sh, don't cry.'_

_Standing up, she went over to see if she could find some energon for the little one. He needed something in his tanks._

_It seemed like luck was on her side for she found one buried underneath the rubble. Making sure it was safe, she gave it to the sparkling, allowing him to drink his fill._

_'There, is that better?' she asked, chuckling when he hiccupped. 'Now go to stasis little one.'_

_Following her soft murmurs, the sparkling drifted off into a small stasis nap. Once she was sure the sparkling was fully in stasis, she allowed her sensor net to expand once more. Sensing more familiar bots coming in a rapid pace, she made her decision. Placing the little one on the safest spot she could, she took one picture of the little one before subspacing her camcorder. She wanted to at least remember the life she managed to save on this awful cycle. Knowing that she should leave something to give a peace to processor for her little ones, she reach into her subspace and took out a worn out crystal chain, a gift that they had given to her the cycle she caught that virus._

_'I'm so sorry little ones, it's better this way,' she said, placing the crystal in the sparkling's grip before leaving. Not knowing where exactly to go now._

_**: Shuttle. :**_

_Yes, a shuttle to escape before it got to worse. She needed time alone and she can't cause any more trouble for the little ones._

_**: Safe. :**_

_..._

_Prowl could feel Smokescreen's worried seeping through their sibling bond as they speed towards their designated location. They had received the news that a surprise attack happened near the care center where their carrier was located. They wanted to storm out there in hopes to save her and others but couldn't. Now, they racing against the time in hopes to save any survivors that there might be and perhaps to found their carrier._

_:Prowl, do you think we will find her?:_

_:I don't know, it's difficult to say what we will find.:_

_Smokescreen didn't answer, the fear of finding their carrier offline weighed heavily on their processors. It was a search and rescue with a few bots. In the lead were Ironhide, a bulky red mech who has a love for cannons, Ratchet, the medic they all hated but now, the feelings are gone and Optimus Prime. Optimus was the one who allowed Prowl, Jazz and him to come. They knew the whole reason was to name the frames that they will find._

_Speaking of Jazz, he has been real quiet. He was behind the group, sometimes swaying side to side before repositioning himself. No words were said for no words were needed. Smokescreen knew that this silence will only be broken when they learn the fate of the one who cared for them._

_'We're coming up to the care center,' Ironhide shouted, spotting the now ruin building._

_'Dear Primus,' Ratchet gasp in shock as they pulled up._

_They haven't entered the place and they were already seeing frames scattered around, the ground coated with energon._

_As one, they transformed, already scanning to see if one of the frames still have a beating spark. They came up negative._

_'Check the others, if there are survivors, we need to find them,' Optimus said, stepping into the building._

_'No offense Prime but I doubt that we will find any survivors,' Ironhide said, following close and seeing the results of the attack. It made him want to hurl. Sparkling and younglings a like were thrown to the side, their caretakers no better. 'Damn those rebels.'_

_Ratchet didn't say anything as he stepped over the frames. He could recognize some of the frames from past visits with his Sire. Each one had a look of pain but that didn't stop him from scanning and searching._

_Jazz stuck close to the siblings. He was prepared for the worst but that didn't even stop him from choking back a cry of despair. The two Praxians had to hold each other for a nanoklik or two before they move forward._

_'Jazz, Prowl, Smokescreen, you sure you want to continue?' Optimus asked in concern._

_Prowl nodded. 'Yes, we want to find the frame of our caretaker, our carrier,' he said sharing a glance with his brother. 'We want to honor her for all the trouble she went through in raising us.'_

_'Very well,' Optimus said._

_They don't know how long they went through the frames, sorting them for burial and such. It pained them to carry the offline frames of the little ones but they had no choice, they can't just leave them here._

_'We're nearing the last of the frames, mostly femmes and one mech, probably the caretakers,' Ironhide said, kneeling down next to what looked like a bonded pair._

_Jazz started at the bonded pair, his visor dimmed. 'That's Blackwind and Highlink,' he said, catching the attention of Smokescreen who was nearby._

_'Are they together?' he asked._

_'Yea, just like always,' Jazz replied before chuckling weakly. 'Blackwind always had to go after me when ah hide in the vents. He mostly got stuck and Flare had to com Highlink to get him out.'_

_'And yet he still went after you,' Smokescreen said weakly._

_'I found Wavestreem,' Prowl said, gently picking up the blue femme's frame._

_'Ah hope Silverflare didn't see her offlinement. It would break her spark,' Jazz said sadly._

_'Was Silverflare Wavestream's charge?' Optimus asked curiously. He had heard stories about the femme from the three but not much._

_'From what we know, yes and her old mentor,' Smokescreen said, digging farther into the rubble. 'Wavestream taught her everything she knew and they were close. Very close.'_

_'Who's left to find mechs?' Ironhide asked._

_Prowl placed Wavestream's frame next to Highlink and glanced around. 'We haven't found Silverflare or Redrose and I remember Silverflare had a sparkling in her watch when we last spoke.'_

_'I see,' Optimus said. 'Keep searching, they might have survived the attack.'_

_'I doubt that Prime,' Ratchet called out farther down the building, nearing the center. 'I found another frame and a sparkling.'_

_'Their condition?' Optimus asked._

_'Offline but they were moved,' he said._

_That caught their attention. Every frame they came by was untouched, lying exactly where they fell. The group quickly went over to where their medic was located and saw him kneeling over a set of frames. They couldn't see who it was but they could still see the deep red color of the frame._

_'No! Redrose!' Smokescreen shouted._

_'You know her?' Ironhide asked._

_'Redrose was the head caretaker of this center,' Ratchet explained. 'Prime come here.'_

_Optimus did as his medic requested and saw the frame of Redrose and saw her holding a sparkling in her arms._

_'She offline trying to protect the sparkling,' he stated._

_'That is what it seems but look at that,' Ratchet said, indicating towards a small pool of energon. 'The sparkling was deactivated there but some bot moved it here next to the frame. And from the position of how Redrose was found, she was too moved a bit, mostly her arms, you can see her helm is looking up towards the pool of energon.'_

_'Why would they do that?' Optimus asked curiously._

_'Redrose loved the little ones,' Jazz said, energon tears slowly trailing down his faceplates. 'Whoever moved the frames wanted Redrose to hold the sparkling even in deactivation.'_

_Optimus nodded and glanced around. 'We found no survivors. It's time to load the frames up and take them to the burial site.'_

_'We didn't find her,' Smokescreen whispered to Prowl who nodded._

_'Perhaps she managed to escape?' Jazz said hopefully._

_'As much as I hope she did, the chances are very slim,' Prowl said._

_'Come on, let's help the others,' Smokescreen said, turning to leave and help carry the frames. Optimus and Ratchet had already taken the two frames with them._

_Prowl and Jazz were about to follow his lead when a small whimper was heard._

_'Wait, do you hear that?' Prowl asked._

_'Ah heard it,' Jazz said._

_Smokescreen scanned the area before pointing towards a pile of rubble. 'There, something is there.'_

_Jazz frowned and drew closer, a blaster in hand. Just to be safe. What he saw, though, caused his jaw to drop. 'Impossible.'_

_'What?' Smokescreen asked._

_Jazz quickly subspaced his weapon and gently picked up a small yellow sparkling. 'He's online!'_

_Prowl started at the sparkling or more like what he held in his tiny servos. 'Silverflare saved him.'_

_'What's makes you think that?' Smokescreen as before spotting what caught his brother's attention. 'That's the charm we made her when we were younglings!'_

_The sparkling, hearing unfamiliar voices and not sensing the soothing spark of before, cried out._

_'Ratchet! We found a sparkling!' Jazz yelled, cooing at the little one._

_'What? Are you sure?' he asked, running towards them. He stopped only a few feet away from them, shocked by what he saw. 'Impossible. How did we miss him?'_

_'Don't know, Ratchet, can you scan him?' Jazz asked, lightly bouncing the sparkling. 'From the looks of it, Flare didn't go down without making sure the little one was safe.'_

_Sending a confuse look at him, he noticed the crystal chain. A solemn look soon appeared on his face. 'She always made sure that her little ones were safe.'_

_'Ratchet,' Optimus called. 'Is it true? Did they find a sparkling?'_

_'Yes, a small one but online,' he called back before taking the sparkling from Jazz. Taking great care, he took the charm away from the sparkling's grip and handed it to Jazz. 'Here, she would have wanted you to have this.'_

_Jazz gently took it within his servos before bowing his head, Prowl and Smokescreen followed._

_'Silverflare, may you be at rest in the Wells,' he said softly, his words being echoed by the two brothers._

* * *

_She didn't know how long she had travel but she knew she was on the right way. She kept on receiving the strange messages, leading her towards a certain location. It pained her to leave her little ones behind, knowing full well that they will conclude her offline, even when they can't find a frame._

_**: Close :**_

_She was close but where? Coming to a stop, she scanned the area and spotted some shuttles off in the distance. They were one bot shuttles, mostly used for solo missions for the travels they took but now, they will be used as escape shuttles. Word spreads fast and it won't be soon to see many of them flying through the sky._

_**: Shuttle 963, close to you :**_

_963? Silverflare pushed forward. She needed to get to that shuttle. She had this feeling that if she was found, it won't end well for her, no matter who protects her. She knew that the rebels, no Decepticns that's what they are called now, held Seekers and Praxians in their forces but she saw none during the attack. Some bot kept them away, she wonder if there was a second attack someplace else._

_She came to the shuttles and quickly read their numbers, spotting the one with 963 on its side. She hesitated a bit before nearing the shuttle. These shuttles were requested. Pay by mechs who wanted them. Who made this one?_

_Standing in front of it, she slowly rested one of her servos on the door and jumped back when it opened._

_'Designated Silverflare,' the computer called out to her._

_'Yes?' she said weakly, entering the shuttle and flinched as the door closed behind her._

_'Welcome, I'm Radar, you're personal computer,' Radar said. 'I'm on the orders to get you to safety.'_

_'Orders from who?' she asked, slowly coming to take the seat that was there._

_'Sorry, can't say, only from a close mech you know,' Radar said as an energon cube appeared next to her. 'Everything is ready for takeoff, supplies full and when nearing to the last bit, emergency stasis will take over.'_

_Silverflare smiled a bit. 'You have personality, that's for sure.'_

_'Was program like this, felt it would make you feel more comfortable,' Radar explain, waiting for the femme to drink her energon. 'Ready for takeoff?'_

_'Ready as I ever am,' Silverflare answered._

_Radar didn't answer. Instead the starting sequence was shown on the screen, counting down to the left off._

_**: Be safe. :**_

_She chuckled at the message before sending one of her own._

_**: Thank you :**_

_There was no response but she didn't mind, no. she took comfort in watching Cybertron, her planet, slowly disappearing from view and stars took its place._

_'Take off successful, preparing course,' Radar said._

_Silverflare nodded in acknowledgement._

_'Goodbye Cybertron. My little ones. Be safe.'_

* * *

She didn't know how many vorns have passed since she had left. Radar was the only company she had. She was down to her last energon cube when Radar activated emergency stasis lock. Memories were the only thing she could see. Starting from her first youngling to her last ones, the one she saved and how she escaped in beginning of the war. Radar was there, she could hear him playing music from passing planets and shuttles. She didn't know how she could hear but she did.

She could feel Radar downloading information to her, programs he believed that she needed for later use. What she didn't know was that Cybertron was dead, destroyed by the war she escaped. That the war didn't end, no it moved to another planet from a distant galaxy. The third planet from its own star.

"Commencing landing procurer … landing procurer inactive … commencing crash landing procurer," Radar said, programs running down his screen. "Emergency stasis deactivated … bringing Silverflare online."

True to his words, Silverflare's visor dimmed a bit but was not fully online. She was aware of the situation but wait until they were in the planet atmosphere. She was weak and didn't want to waste what little energy she still had.

"Radar, do you know what planet we're about to enter?" she asked.

"From the connections I could receive, it is called Earth," Radar answered.

"Earth? What a strange designation but then again, everything unknown is strange to me," she said weakly. "Radar, wake me when we are close to landing."

"Very well,' he answered.

Silverflare sighed before going into a light stasis, not knowing what she will face in this new world. She never realized the fact that she used an unknown motion that she wasn't really familiar with.

* * *

**So what do you think? sorry i couldn't get Jazz's speech pattern right but it was so difficult for me! anyway, it took me forver to write this and it wouldn't leave me alone till i did. also, the song Silverflare sings is called the humbling river by puscifer. thanks for reading! R&R and tell me what you think!**

**-Bluebutterflywitch**


	2. Chapter 2

**this chapter is a bit shorter then I would like but I actually lost the flash drive that it was on and I found said flash drive right after I washed it in a pair of shorts. yeah, should had checked the pockets before putting them into the washer but on the bright side, it's clean! anyway, I love how many people like this story so let's see what happens next? **

**disclaimer: don't own anything except Silverflare. enjoy the chap!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Prowler!" Jazz whined as he tried to convince the younger mech to take a break. "Come and get some energon with me."

"No Jazz," Prowl stated, not evening glancing up from his datapads. "There's too much work that needs to be done."

Jazz frowned. It was the same excuse like always. Prowl never wanted to go and chat with the other bots. Not even when he needed energon.

"Prowl, just one cube of energon and that's all," Jazz said, hoping to convince the Praxian to come with him.

Prowl sighed, an action he had picked up from the humans. Placing the datapads down, he nodded. "A cube of energon wouldn't do me any harm," he said, standing up and flaring out his doorwings before returning them to their usual position.

Jazz beamed in joy. "That's the ticket!" Reaching over, he grabbed Prowl's servo and started to drag the younger mech towards the rec room. "Smokescreen wanted us to be together fer today."

Prowl looked confuse before realizing what's going on. "That's right, it's the day Bumblebee was found isn't it?"

"And the day she …" Jazz started before trailing off.

Prowl nodded. "Yes but she wouldn't want us to stay in the past."

Jazz chuckled at that. "She always told me, 'Jazz always look towards the future, never stray too much in what has happen the orn before. It'll ruin ya.' Words ah took to the spark."

"Yet you never listen when she was told you to not …" Prowl started to say before Jazz cut him off.

"Hey! We agree that we would never speak of that ever again," Jazz said before pouting. "Flare wouldn't stop laughing at me."

Prowl smirked at the reminder. It was one of the few fond memories they still had of their time as younglings. Jazz just sighed when he saw the look but was happy he managed to break through his stoic expression. They reached the rec room in short time and were met with the youngest of the Praxians near the doorway.

"Hi Prowl! Jazz! You came to get a cube of energon too? I just finished my training with Ironhide then I had to go to Ratchet for a checkup because my wings were going me problems and almost got a wrench to the helm because it turns out that a small virus had gotten pass my firewalls and," Bluestreak said, his wings twitching the whole time.

"Whoa! Calm down Blue," Jazz laughed, placing a hand on the gunner's shoulder and leading him into the rec room, Prowl following close behind. "Yea we came to get a cube, managed to get Prowler to take a break."

"Prowl, taking a break?" Sideswipe said in shock. Grasping the armor over his spark, he fell on his brother's side. "The world's ending!"

Sunsteaker pushed his twin off of him, complaining about his paint job and stared at the tactician in mid curiosity.

Prowl ignored the two and went off towards Smokescreen who was waving at them. Taking a seat next to the elder Praxian, they shared a quick greeting before Jazz joined them. Bluestreak already had run off towards Bumblebee to tell him something about training. The two head officers grabbed a cube from Smokescreen before picking up the cards he had placed in front of them.

"Is it that time again?" Sideswipe asked curiously as the three friends spoke to each other in low voices, trading cards whenever they saw fit.

"So it seems," Mirage said, appearing behind the two.

Sideswipe let out a shout and jumped on his twin. "Mirage! We seriously need to put a bell on you!"

"That still wouldn't stop him," Hound chuckled from his spot.

"Still! He should know better than sneak up on other bots," the red twin said before Sunsteaker pushed him off. "Sunny!"

"Don't call me that," Sunsteaker complained.

"Sunny!" Jazz shouted cheekily at the yellow frontliner.

Sunsteaker growled but didn't say anything. He would find a way to get the TIC back one way or another.

"Jazz, get back to the game," Prowl said. "It's your turn."

Jazz grabbed one of Smokescreen's cards before smirking and placing them down on the table for them to see. "Ah win."

Prowl shook his head and place his cards down. "I beg to differ."

Jazz's jaw down before crossing his arms and pouting. "No fair."

Smokescreen just chuckled. "I'm sorry to say but I bet you two once more," he said as he showed what he had.

"Guess we were beaten by the gambler once more," Jazz said sadly.

"Don't worry Jazz, maybe next time," Smokescreen said as he collected his cards.

Jazz didn't reply. He just sipped the rest of his energon and glanced around the room. Every bot was relaxing, many were surrounding Bumblebee as they made jokes. To the autobots, this was a day for happiness and hope but for them, it was one full of sadness. By their request, Optimus didn't exactly place too many details on how Bumblebee was the only survivor, only that they found him against all odds.

A hit to the helm brought him back to reality. Servos grasping his aching helm, he turned and glared at Smokescreen who still had his servo up.

"What was that fer?" he asked angrily.

"Stop being grumpy! It's creepy, we're use to you being too cheerful for a normal bot," Smokescreen said.

Before Jazz could reply, a message came.

**: Optimus to Jazz and Prowl :**

**: Sup Boss bot :**

**: Optimus sir :**

**: Report to the command central :**

**: Sure thing! :**

**: May I ask what for? :**

**: Teletraan-1 spotted a shuttle entering Earth's atmosphere :**

**: Con or Bot? :**

**: We cannot detect who it is :**

**: We're on our way Optimus :**

**: Very well, Optimus out :**

Drowning the rest of his energon, Jazz jumped up from his seat and beamed at Smokescreen. "Gotta run, Optimus wants us."

"What for?" Smokescreen said, shuffling his cards.

"Don't know, something about a shuttle coming," he reply before grabbing a hold of the youngest of the three by the arm and started to drag him off. "Come on Prowler! Can't keep the boss waiting!"

"Jazz. It's Prowl not Prowler," Prowl growled angrily. He struggled against the tight hold on his arm. "Jazz would you mind letting go?"

"Nope!" Jazz said cheekily. It wasn't long till they reached the command central and spotted Optimus standing in front of Teletraan-1. "So any clue on whom the mystery shuttle may be?"

Optimus shook his head before motioning them to come closer. "The shuttle should be within communication reach soon."

"Send the com link now?" Prowl asked, his doorwings twitching a bit before returning still. Jazz having released his arm by now and glancing at the screen with a dot indicating the shuttle closer than a nanoklik ago.

Optimus nodded. Soon the signal was ready.

"Unknown shuttle, identify yourself," Prowl ordered.

There was a moment of silence and just as Prowl was about to repeated his pervious statement, an answer came through.

'_**Shuttle 963 here!'**_ a cheerful voice answered. _**'Didn't expect other bots here won't that be a surprise!'**_

"Identify yourself mech," Prowl ordered while Jazz checked on the shuttle's history.

'_**Radar sir! Personal computer of the shuttle and owner,' **_Radar said happily as if this was a game for him.

"Personal computer? Where's the occupant of the vehicle?" Optimus asked curiously.

"Ahha! Found it, Shuttle 963," Jazz yelled excitedly. "A private shuttle that escaped in the beginning of the war was never heard or seen of since then."

'_**Well, I did have to take them to safety, orders from the boss,' **_Radar said, listening to the report. _**'Couldn't be seen or bad things would have happen.' **_

"Where is your occupant?" Prowl asked.

'_**Recharging, should wake them up soon before crash landing,'**_ Radar said.

"Who is it?" Optimus asked.

'_**Can't tell,'**_ sang the computer. _**'Safety first!'**_

"Con or Bot?" Jazz asked.

'_**Oh! Are those what the sides now call each other? Cons or Bots?' **_Radar asked curiously. _**'Well neither.'**_

"Neutral?" Optimus asked surprised. Neutrals were very rare now, hidden on distant planets and galaxies in order to avoid the war.

'_**Eh, you can say that,'**_ was their reply before a muffle sound was heard. _**'Opps! You guys woke them up!'**_

"Well he should be up by now," Jazz said. "From the looks of it, you guys are about to crash."

'_**Really? Wow, guess this cuts our chat short,'**_ Radar said as more muffle sounds were heard in the background. _**'And I was starting to enjoy it.'**_

"Redirect your landing closer to our location," Optimus said. "We'll send a small search and rescue team to bring the mech to safety."

'_**No can do,'**_ Radar said.

"And why is that?" Prowl asked, his wings flare out.

'_**One, I can't and two, how can I trust you? I've been taking care of them since they have come and no offense, they were shock by what they had seen before arriving and they wouldn't deal well with new bots. Unless, of course, you happened to have some bots designated Prowl, Jazz or Smokescreen then nope!' **_Radar said.

"Ah'm Jazz! Prowl and Smokescreen are here as well," Jazz said before frowning. "Why is it important that we were here?"

Radar didn't answer instead a surprise muffle was heard. How they could tell it was surprise, they might never know.

'_**Really?' **_he asked cautiously.

"That is correct, why is it important?" Prowl asked sternly.

Instead of receiving an answer, Radar started to speak excitedly_**. 'Won't she be so happy! She's been having memory fluxes ever since entering emergency stasis lock and it just breaks my critic's board to see her in pain and I can't do anything. Oh! I'm so excited! She's been talking about playing a game when we first spotted spark signatures on the planet and now she will! Oh I can't wait to see how this will turn out.'**_

"Wait, she?" Jazz asked before realization hit him. "Ya mean that it's a femme in there with ya!"

'_**Opps! I ruin the surprise! But that doesn't matter, no sir it doesn't,'**_ Radar said. _**'Well, bye-bye! Crashing procedure about to begin!'**_

"Wait!" they all seem to yell, wanting to know more information about the femme but the personal computer already hanged up the com link.

"Optimus, if it truly is a neutral femme that is about to land, we need to get to her before the Decepticons do. No doubt that they already received the signal of the shuttle and are heading towards the location," Prowl said.

Optimus nodded in agreement. The thought of a femme ending up in the Decepticon's hands sicken him. He had seen the result of what femmes went through and didn't wish the same fate to happen to her.

"Where is the shuttle landing?" Optimus asked his TIC.

Jazz glanced at the screen and a few push of a button, his visor brighten. "Ah think ya mean crash Prime," he answered. "The shuttle just crashed near the edge of Canada and wait … no!"

"What's wrong?" Prowl asked, surprise at the sudden shout.

"The signal just disappeared before ah could get a fix on it," Jazz said as he try to relocate the shuttle. "Someone hide it or the ship was badly damaged."

"Did we get a general located?" Optimus asked.

Jazz nodded. "From the looks of it, somewhere between Ontario and Minnesota."

"We better get going, we don't know if she was injured and needs medical attention," Optimus said.

"Optimus, ah believe we should keep this on the down low," Jazz said. "Let few mechs know about the femme."

"I also believe we should keep it on the down low," Prowl stated. "From what Radar told us, the femme probably is still wary of other mechs and it wouldn't do well if she is suddenly surrounded."

Optmius nodded. "That is the correct choice to follow. Prowl contact the mechs you believe should come along on the trip."

"Understood," Prowl said, optics dimming as he contacted the mechs he believed will be needed.

"Let's hope that the cons don't know and that she's okay," Jazz said softly.

* * *

"Lord Megatron, unknown shuttle located on the edge of someplace called Ontario," a lower rank con reported from the monitor he was located at.

Megatron growled at the report. Another Autobot must likely, just their luck more trouble. "Bot or Con?" he ordered, he needed to make sure so he can start on the plans.

The con hesitated to answer, angering Megatron even more. Clawing on his throne, making sure that everyone that was there could hear it clearly as he repeated his statement once more, a bit more strain then before.

"Bot or Con?"

The con, fearing for his life answered quickly. "None sir. The shuttle didn't give out a signal and disappeared before I could get a fix on it. From the transmissions I could receive coming from it, it's seems to be that of a Neutral."

Megatron froze at news he was hearing. A Neutral? They have hidden themselves very well after the beginning of the war and they made a great game whenever one could be found.

A sly smirk soon appeared on his faceplates, causing his soldiers to shiver in fear. This smirk was blood thirsty and could only mean death for those who were on his processor unit.

"Where was the Neutral's shuttle last located?" he asked.

"Near Ontario sir."

Megatron chuckled as he lean back against his throne. "Knowing those slagging Autoscum, they are already on route to the location. Why don't we sit back and watch? It will be fun to see their faces when we kill that Neutral right in front of them."

"Give them a false sense of security sir?" another con asked.

"Yes," he said. "We can see who exactly this Neutral is and how they react. I want the hunt to be fun and what better then to let those Autoscum teach him what they know? That will teach him to come out of hiding and perhaps reveal where there are others. Neutrals make great games."

Megatron then chuckle at the thought, remembering all the games he had with other Neutrals they had come across during their travels. Soon, the whole command room was full of dark laughter.

"Get back to work!" Megatron ordered. Silence followed and the leader of the Decepticons turned to his right to see Soundwave standing there, awaiting orders as usual. "Soundwave, start the plans for gathering more energon."

Soundwave nodded and went towards his station. Unknown to Megatron or anyone else, he was worried about the shuttle that arrived. He had seen the transmissions and they looked oddly familiar but they couldn't be … could they? Clearing his processor unit, he started on the plans. He would have to confirm his worries when they meet up with the Neutral later on. Till then, he had to keep an optic on things.

* * *

"We have landed! Please make your way towards the now destroyed doorway and careful with the jagged metal that is just behind the exit. Thank you for choosing Shuttle 963 as your method of transportation," Radar said happily.

Silverflare groan from her position on the floor. "I want my credits back then. I did not enjoy the landing."

"Aw! But I thought that was the best part though!" Radar whined. "Traveling through space was boring and this was like the only action I had!"

"Easy for you to say, you didn't see what I saw before I left and you weren't toss around like a cyber-doll," Silverflare stated as she slowly stood up. "Did you block our signal?"

"Yes mam! Just when we arrived so they only got an area but not a complete fix," Radar reported. "Can you believe that Prowl, Smokescreen and Jazz are here as well?"

Silverflare froze at the designations, her wings flared out before relaxing into a normal position. "Yes. My little ones have survived and are nearby. I'm so glad."

"Yay! You're happy! Now what Flare?" Radar asked curiously. From what he calculated, they only had a limited time before they arrived.

Silverflare frowned as she sip half of her last cube and subspace the rest. "Radar, scan yourself into a flash drive while I collect what few supplies I have left. We are leaving. I need to understand the planet's culture and such so I can better inform."

"Okay doki! I already downloaded a vehicle form for you when we were passing the planet's satellite. There might be a few glitches since you didn't scan it but it should do until we come across another vehicle for you to scan," Radar reply before ejecting a flash drive. "Scanning complete. Cya on the other side!"

Silverflare shook her head at the computer before taking the flash driver and subspacing it as well. She took a nanoklik to glance at what she had left before subspacing them as well.

"I don't have much but it'll have to do for now," she commented to herself. Imagine her surprise when Radar answered.

"_Well you were in deep emergency stasis lock because of the shortage of supplies you know," _he said.

"Radar? How?" Silverflare asked in shock.

"_Oh! I'm able to communicate with you because of this program I downloaded when I had the chance," _he stated happily. _"It's like a com link and I only respond do you."_

"Well at least I have some bot to talk to until we find the others," Silverflare said as she carefully stepped out of the now ruined shuttle and onto the rocky terrain that they had landed onto. "I hate the thought of being alone and you can explain to me about all these programs that I now have."

"_Yippee! Transform! Transform!"_ Radar cheered.

Silverflare chuckled and started her transformation sequence. She could see blueprints and diagrams of the vehicle that Radar had chosen for her and felt how her cogs were forming the basic shape and form. Once done, she quickly ran a scan and hummed her engine in agreement when nothing showed up wrong.

"I got to say that I like it," she said before tinting the windows a bit so no one could see that the vehicle was driving by itself. She didn't know what type of life forms occupied this planet so it was better safe than sorry as the saying goes. "Let's take for a test drive no?"

"_Go! Go! Go!"_ Radar chanted excitedly.

Silverflare laughed and speed off into a random direction. The vehicle felt great and ran smoothly. In other words, she loved it.

"Amazing! You did a good job Radar," she said as she came upon a road and followed a passing car.

"_Thank you! It's an Audi R8 and with your silver color, it looks amazing no?"_ Radar said, quite pleased that his master liked his choice. _"It also fits your figure as well."_

"Now, if I didn't know better Radar, I say you're flirting with me," Silverflare joked.

"_Me? I would never,"_ Radar said in mock pain. _"How could you think that for even a nanoklik?"_

"Alright, alright," Silverflare said. "Which direction are we heading?"

"_South, about a cycles travel, we will arrive in what the habitants here call the United States,"_ Radar informed.

"United States? Strange," the former caretaker exclaimed. "Where are you getting this information Radar?"

"_Something that is called the World Wide Web,"_ Radar replied. _"I had to download their basic language to understand it." _

"Oh, I see … Radar, I need you to search up all you can about the basic culture they have here in the United States and send me a packet on what I should know later on so I can review it before entering my recharging cycle. Understood?" Silverflare said, almost ordering as she took a sharp turn. "We still have much to go before we can even meet up with the others and my little ones."

"_Very well, I suggest listening to their music on the radio Flare,"_ Radar responded. _"It is a big part of their culture and it can keep your processor off of things as well."_

Silverflare didn't respond. She merely turned on the radio and soon music was heard within her cabin. Radar informed her that the song was called Numb by some group called Linkin Park. She listened to the music but couldn't understand what is being said. It sounded sad for some reason and soon found herself lost in her thoughts.

She knows what has become of her younger ones but what about her first? What happened to Soundwave? She just hoped he was okay and well.

* * *

"Anything?" Prowl questioned as they searched the terrain. They had arrived to the crash site and started the wide search for the femme that arrived. With no exact location, it was three times as hard then it should have been.

"Nothin' here" Jazz replied as he scaled the rocky terrain. "Ah'll try to spot any signs of wreckage aroun' here."

"Negative," Smokescreen called out from his position. "All I found was a nest of some sort that was abandoned some time ago."

"Well I'm wasting my time searching for a supposedly femme who doesn't seem to want to be found when I could be back in my med bay fixing some glitch head's injuries that they caused," Ratchet grumbled.

"Ratchet, if there is a femme nearby, it is important we find her before the Decepticons do," Optimus said. "We cannot let her fall into their hands."

"We know Prime," Ironhide stated as he wondered around. "Why else would we're piss? This femme clearly thinks all of this is a game and decided she wanted to play hide and seek."

Prowl sighed. He only chose a few select that Jazz and he believed that should know about the femme. They didn't want a commotion to happen at the news and only com Ironhide, Ratchet and Smokescreen; Ratchet to look over the femme once they found her for injuries and viruses while Ironhide for firepower if they need it. The only reason they com Smokescreen is because there was a small hope that this femme could be Silverflare.

They had never found the frame of their carrier and caretaker and this Radar claimed that the femme would be happy to see them again. All the clues point towards the silver femme, especially when reports claim that Shuttle 963 went off to space in the beginnings of the war, soon after the attack on the care center. Perhaps she did survive the attack but why would she leave the sparkling behind when she could had taken him with her? Why didn't she stay and come with them when they arrived? They could have protected her and the sparkling. Why did she leave?

"So nothing as of yet," Prowl said.

"It seems like it," Skyfire said. Skyfire was their transportation and was also informed of the situation. "Optimus sir, you want me to fly overhead and see if I can spot anything?"

There was a nanoklik of silence.

"Why didn' we thought of that before?" Jazz ask from his position up above.

"Because you're a bunch of glitches," Ratchet exclaimed.

"You didn't think of it either Ratchet," Ironhide pointed out, only to be meet with a wrench on the head. "Ratchet!" he whined as he rubbed his helm. Ratchet didn't respond, he merely retrieved his beloved wrench and sent him a warning glare.

"Skyfire, can you fly above and get us a visual?" Optimus questioned.

Skyfie nodded and step back to transform. The shuttle then flew off into the air and disappeared into the distance.

"So guess we're waiting no?" Jazz said as he climbed down.

"It appears so," Smokescreen said, drawing close to his younger sibling. "Prowl, what are the chances that we'll find this femme before the day is out?"

"Chances are slim but perhaps if Skyfire gets a visual on where the shuttle crashed we can get a clear idea on how injured this femme is and which direction she headed to," Prowl answered.

"Which direction?" Ironhide exclaimed. "What does this femme think she's playing at?"

"Ironhide, calm down," Optimus said. "Once we find her, we'll discuss on how her actions were unnecessary and dangerous."

_That still wouldn't stop her._ That was the thought that passed through the three mechs processor units. They had all agree that if it was Silverflare that had arrived, even though it was a very slim chance, she would had left to find them or become familiar with her surroundings instead. It always bugged her when she didn't know an area.

The whole area was soon filled with silence, each bot lost in their own thoughts. Each one wondering how the arrival of this Neutral will play out in the war but only time would tell. Yes only time and perhaps Primus will tell how the course of the near future will go.

* * *

**I just realize something, I might have rash things a bit too fast. oh well, I could change it but that would confuse me on my crazy train of thought so I'll stick to it for now. thanks for reading! R&R**

**-Bluebutterfly**


End file.
